Registering device for poultry-crates



No. 6ll,720. Patented Oct. '4, I898.

N. B. & D. UPDIKE.

REGISTERING DEVICE FOR POULTRY GBATES.

(Application filed Apr. 18, 1898.)

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NATHANIEL l3. UPDIKE AND DAVID UPDIKE, OF CHESTNUT FORKS, VIRGINIA.

REGISTERING DEVICE FOR POULTRY-CRATES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 611,720, dated October 4,1898.

Application filed April 18, 1898. Serial No. 678,028- (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, NATHANIEL B. UPDIKE and DAVID UPDIKE, citizens of the United States, residing at Chestnut Forks, in the county of Bedford and State of Virginia, have invented a new and useful Registering Device for'Poultry-Orates, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to tally mechanisms, and particularly to a poultry-register adapted for use in connection with poultry-coops for indicating mechanically the number of fowls which have been placed therein, and thus facilitating the operation of filling crates for shipment, and, furthermore, to provide a device of the class described in the form of an attachment which may be applied with facility to a crate or coop during the filling operation and subsequently detached.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a registering device constructed in accordance with our invention applied in the operative position to a poultry crate or coop. Fig. 2 is an inverted plan view of the registering device. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the cam-arm detached.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding partsin all the figures of the drawlngs.

1 designates a flanged cap, constituting the body portion of an attachment designed for application to a shipping crate or coop 2, the depending flanges 3 of said cap being designed to rest upon the top of the crate in order to elevate the body portion of the cap sufficiently Revolubly mounted upon the cap is a flat registering disk 8, provided with suitable characters, such as numerals, and contiguous to the periphery of said disk is an index 9, whereby as the disk receives a step-by-step rotary motion the index designates successively the characters thereof. The spindle of this disk is mounted in a suitable bearing in the cap and carries a ratchet-wheel 11, in operative relation with which are arranged a stop-pawl 12 and an operating-pawl 13. The operating-pawl is carried by the swinging arm 14, fulcrumed, as at 15, in contact, preferably, with the inner surface of the cap, and the arm carries a cam 16, of which the surface is arranged in the path of the edge of the door or a suitable knob 17, carried by the edge of the door.

As the fowls are successively introduced into the crate or coop by depressing the door or leaf the cam is actuated and communicates motion to the operating-pawl, which in turn operates the ratchet-wheel and imparts a stepby-step rotary movement to the registering disk. The operating-pawl is held in its proper position with relation to the ratchet by means of a coiled or analogous spring 18, which, being fixed to a stationary pin 19, serves also to yieldingly maintain the cam-carrying arm in its normal position with relation to the edge of the door or leaf.

The portion of the tally mechanism which is arranged within the cap is preferably covered by a protectingplate to avoid injury or displacement of the parts thereof by the contents of the crate.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that with an apparatus constructed as described the number of fowls introduced into a crate or coop is indicated by the registeringdisk, whereby the keeping of a mental record is avoided. It frequently happens in practice that the count is lost during the operation of filling a crate, and this necessitates a recounting of the contents of the crate after the fowls have been introduced thereinto and also leads to mistakes in count, which materially detract from the accuracy of the operation and lead to misunderstandings which may be entirely avoided by the use of the apparatus above described.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described our invention, what we claim is 1. In combination with a receptacle,a swinging leaf having a closing-spring whereby it is yieldingly held in its normal position, a registering member mounted for step-by-step movement, ratchet mechanism for communicating motion to said registering member, a swinging arm operatively connected with one member of the ratchet mechanism, and having a cam arranged in the path of said leaf, for actuation during the opening movement of the same, and yielding means for maintaining the cam-carrying arm in its normal position, substantially as specified.

2. In combination with a poultry-crate, a spring-actuated swinging leaf, and a tally mechanism having a registering-disk mounted for step-by-step rotary movem ent and havin g its spindle provided with a ratchet-wheel, a swinging arm carrying a cam arranged in operative relation with an edge of the leaf, operating and holding pawls arranged inv operative relation With the ratchet-wheel, the former being carried by said swinging arm, and a spring terminally connected respectively to said operating-pawl, and a stationary pin, for holding said pawl in operative relation with the ratchet-wheel and yieldingly maintaining the swinging arm in its normal position, substantially as specified.

3. An attachment for poultry-crates having a cap adapted to fit over the door-opening of a crate, and means for temporarily securing the same to the crate, aleaf or door mounted for swinging movement in an opening in the cap, and a tally mechanism mounted upon and housed Within the cap, and having a movable part arranged in the path of the opening movement of said leaf or door, substantially as specified.

t. An attachment for poultry-crates having a cap adapted to fit over the door-opening of a crate, and provided with depending flanges to rest upon the wall of the crate around said opening, securing devices for temporarily fastening said cap in its operative position upon the crate, a leaf or door normally occupying an opening in the cap, and adapted to swing toward and from the plane thereof, and a tally mechanism mounted upon the cap and having a movable part arranged in the path of the edge of said leaf ordoor, substantially as specified.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have hereto aifixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

NATHANIEL B. UPDIKE. DAVID UPDIKE.

Witnesses:

L. L. BRO\VN, Jos. AUNSPAUGI-I. 

